5/20/2023 football Edit

2024 QB Daniel Kaelin, in-state Bellevue West star, commits to Nebraska

Bellevue West 2024 QB Daniel Kaelin (Greg Smith/Inside Nebraska)

Zack Carpenter • InsideNebraska

Publisher

Zack Carpenter is the publisher of Inside Nebraska. He previously covered recruiting and the team beat for Ohio State, Clemson, South Carolina and recruiting at the national level for three years.

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Matt Rhule and the Huskers have their guy: Class of 2024 in-state quarterback Daniel Kaelin has committed to Nebraska.

Kaelin, who had been committed to Missouri since March 13, decommitted from the Tigers on Friday. But he didn't wait too long to make his longtime wish known: He wanted to be a Husker.

Now, the Bellevue West star is on his way into Rhule's program and Marcus Satterfield's offense in the Big Ten – instead of the SEC organization run by Eliah Drinkwitz and the schemes run by Tigers OC/QBs coach Kirby Moore.

Missouri knew it had a steal – a hidden gem – by taking advantage of the Huskers prioritizing five-star legacy and No. 1 overall player Dylan Raiola.

Rhule and Co., though, pulled a robbery and grabbed Kaelin right back to keep him inside the Nebraska borders – and the Huskers' CEO was true to his word in the process.

Rhule was open and honest that the Huskers planned to continue recruiting players even if they were currently committed to other programs. He said they would be respectful about the situation, but that wasn't going to deter the Huskers from going after the players they wanted.

Kaelin, clearly, is evidence of that.

For over two months, it looked like the Huskers' strategy of heavily prioritizing Raiola and playing the waiting game may not work out. Kaelin, the team's No. 2 quarterback target in the cycle, would have been a Husker several weeks ago and would have already been working to help build the class.

But Rhule and the Huskers continued building things up with Raiola and waiting for a decision. All along, a plan was in place, which we talked about in-depth on Inside Nebraska on Friday morning.

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That plan remained the same even as Kaelin committed to the Tigers in mid-March: Continue grinding away at Raiola's recruitment and see where the chips fall after that. Those chips fell into place pretty seamlessly. The Huskers' plan seems to have worked out better, and in a more stress-free manner, than Rhule and Co. likely thought it would go.

With Kaelin in the fold, the Huskers have avoided going two straight recruiting cycles without signing a high school quarterback. Now, they can continue to build out their class going into what will likely be a hectic June with camps, official visits and ensuing commitments.

The Huskers now have seven commits in their 2024 class with Jack linebacker Willis McGahee IV and defensive linemen Ashton Murphy being the two members projected to play defensive roles. On offense, Kaelin joins a group featuring interior lineman Gibson Pyle, four-star tight end Ian Flynt (the highest-ranked pledge in their class), Roger Grodney (listed as an athlete, expected to play receiver) and Keelan Smith (also listed as an athlete but is projected to be a similar F tight end hybrid in the vein of Janiran Bonner).

Discuss Daniel Kaelin's commitment, the Huskers' 2024 recruiting class and more with other Husker fans on the Insider's Board.